Kingston High School to have high-tech manufacturing curriculum, thanks to Alcoa

By Diane Pineiro-Zucker

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

KINGSTON, N,.Y. -- The Kingston school district has received a $15,000 grant from the Alcoa Foundation to implement the first step in a three-year plan to introduce a high-tech manufacturing curriculum to about 125 Kingston High School students, beginning in the 2014-15 school year, the district announced Tuesday.

During the 2013-14 school year, teachers and administrators will work closely with Alcoa engineers to plan a curriculum that will equip Kingston High School students with the knowledge and experience to pursue high-tech manufacturing as a career, or to further their education in college, said District Superintendent Paul Padalino.

Padalino said students in the program could be either college-bound or may leave high school "prepared to go right out into the workforce" and accept "solid, skilled, union jobs with benefits and opportunities for advancement."

High-tech manufacturing "is a wave that's coming through nationally and even globally," Padalino said, explaining that students will be taught manufacturing techniques and possibly 3-D printing technology. "Locally, they build precision tools," he said, referring to the Alcoa plant at 1 Corporate Drive off Delaware Avenue in Kingston.

"I am thrilled to begin this new partnership," said Padalino, who helped bring Alcoa into Kingston schools after learning of the company's difficulty in finding skilled local workers. "Partnerships like this one will ensure that our students don't just graduate with a diploma, but with marketable skills."

Alcoa, a worldwide manufacturer, employs about 61,000 people in 30 countries who work in the aerospace, automotive, packing, building and construction, commercial transportation and consumer electronics industries, according to the company's website, www.alcoa.com.

Alcoa officials familiar with the initiative could not be reached Tuesday.